Tales of a Brit who moved to Hauts-de-France

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Down in Paris: Le Week-End

On a Friday, you have to hope your weekend ahead will be better than that of Nick and Meg Burrows, the central characters in Roger Michell’s new film, Le Week-end. Even stars such as Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan struggle to find much light in the darkness of its plot.

The film finds the long-suffering couple returning to Paris for their 30th anniversary. Nick’s booked them into the same hotel they stayed in on their honeymoon. But it’s changed – and not for the better.

They decamp to another, more upmarket hotel, but it doesn’t improve their moods much.

The pair continue to rub along in a prickly manner until Jeff Goldblum finally appears – arguably too late in the film – to shake things up a bit. His character, Morgan, once lived in Nick’s shadow. Now, however, he’s a successful author with a lovely young wife and a beautiful home.

The contrast with Nick and Meg’s hum-drum life in couldn’t be starker.

There are plenty of upsides to this film, including a script by Hanif Kureishi and finely tuned performances by both the leading actors. You just wouldn’t want your own weekend to be like theirs.